MSAR and Biochem instead of Organic II

[gleeful]

Hey everyone. I was perusing through MSAR and noticed it doesn't really explain which schools will accept Biochemistry in lieu of Organic II. For example, Georgetown. On Georgetown's website it explicitly states that Biochem can be used as a replacement for Ochem II. However, on MSAR it doesn't specify that. It just shows Biochem as recommended and a required 8 hours of Organic. Any comments? Am I missing something? Thanks.

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[trev5150]

The MSAR states the requirements for the widest selection of medical schools. From that, your AMCAS application is evaluated as complete or not. 8 hours of organic most usually equates to two semesters of three credits of organic chemistry and a 2 credit lab. That's pretty much how it goes at the most undergrad schools, and is therefore what the expectation is for the majority of undergraduate experiences.

What Georgetown does and expects doesn't sound like it lines up exactly like that. That said, you need to look at the individual requirements for each school you would apply to and compare it to the MSAR. I'm sure you will find that the MSAR reflects most schools requirements, or more accurately is an all-inclusive composite of most schools.

Not taking O Chem II would be a mistake I think. Your goal should be to be as prepared for the MCAT as possible and that means two semesters of organic and two semesters of biochem. Again, that's to be prepared for the MCAT and the requirements of the widest possible selection of schools you would apply to with the understanding that this is the knowledge base you'll need for the first two years of medical school. Just looking at Georgetown is a sample of 1 and as we all know from taking statistics is that n=1 is not a good data set.

 

[gleeful]

The MSAR states the requirements for the widest selection of medical schools. From that, your AMCAS application is evaluated as complete or not. 8 hours of organic most usually equates to two semesters of three credits of organic chemistry and a 2 credit lab. That's pretty much how it goes at the most undergrad schools, and is therefore what the expectation is for the majority of undergraduate experiences.

What Georgetown does and expects doesn't sound like it lines up exactly like that. That said, you need to look at the individual requirements for each school you would apply to and compare it to the MSAR. I'm sure you will find that the MSAR reflects most schools requirements, or more accurately is an all-inclusive composite of most schools.

Not taking O Chem II would be a mistake I think. Your goal should be to be as prepared for the MCAT as possible and that means two semesters of organic and two semesters of biochem. Again, that's to be prepared for the MCAT and the requirements of the widest possible selection of schools you would apply to with the understanding that this is the knowledge base you'll need for the first two years of medical school. Just looking at Georgetown is a sample of 1 and as we all know from taking statistics is that n=1 is not a good data set.

Thanks for your reply. I was looking at the Georgetown-specific MSAR page. This seems to be a pattern as well. Many schools in MSAR list a required 8 hours of organic, only list biochem as recommended, but the websites of these schools say biochem can serve as a replacement for organic II. Just longing for the convenience of one consolidated info source I guess. Thought MSAR was it but I guess not haha. Thanks.

 

[trev5150]

Thanks for your reply. I was looking at the Georgetown-specific MSAR page. This seems to be a pattern as well. Many schools in MSAR list a required 8 hours of organic, only list biochem as recommended, but the websites of these schools say biochem can serve as a replacement for organic II. Just longing for the convenience of one consolidated info source I guess. Thought MSAR was it but I guess not haha. Thanks.

Oh ok it's clearer to me now what you were looking at. Yes the requirements list is pretty much universal for the sciences. There's more wobble in math requirements. Some want you to have 1 semester of calculus, some want 1 semester of stats, or some permutation of both.